Brown will praise the European Union's progress in combatting climate change after EU leaders on Friday agreed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

He is set to announce domestic policy proposals that are targetted at helping Britons save energy, thereby cutting their individual carbon emissions, ahead of the government's publication of its Climate Change Bill on Tuesday.

"People want to make the right choices and they want help to take the right decisions," Brown will say.

"Government must provide practical help with, wherever possible, incentives in preference to penalties."

Brown is the favourite to be Britain's next prime minister, as Tony Blair has pledged to step down by September.